GRAEME Souness last night hailed his FA Cup heroes after a stunning five-star comeback dumped Derby out of the Cup in front of a shellshocked Pride Park.

Rampant Rovers sent shockwaves reverberating around the country after two-goal hero Marcus Bent sparked an amazing fightback which saw the First Division promotion chasers thump Jim Smith's Premiership strugglers 5-2.

Only Manchester United and Liverpool had previously beaten the Rams on their home turf this season.

But the men from Ewood recovered from a third minute setback to score five times in the space of 29 second half minutes to set-up a mouthwatering fifth round clash with Bolton at the Reebok on Saturday week.

It was Souness's finest hour as Rovers manager since he took charge at Ewood 10 months ago.

But the jubilant Blackburn boss insists his team can still get better as they prepare for a make-or-break period which could decide their destiny.

"As good as we were in the second half, I think we can still be better than that," said Souness.

"This group of players still has another 15 to 20 per cent to give yet. And, if you ask the players themselves that, they will tell you the same.

"We have some very good young players here and I think they showed that here.

"We believed we could win this game because we felt we should have won the first match comfortably.

"And, after we had some words at half-time, I think we set about them in a way they didn't expect and ended up winning quite comfortably.

"The Premier League obviously remains our priority. We want to get back among the big boys.

"All the glamour's with the Premier League and all the hype.

"And, if you've got anything about you, then you want to be playing there.

"Having said that, the FA Cup is an important competition and we want to go as far as we possibly can in it.

"It's going to be a cracking tie at Bolton but first we've got to concentrate on Nottingham Forest on Saturday and then we can start thinking about that."

Rovers were left reeling after England Under 21 international Chris Riggott soared to head home Craig Burley's freekick with the game barely three minutes old.

But, after Brad Friedel then pulled off a couple of crucial saves, the visitors regrouped at half-time.

And a sensational goal-blitz after the break then left the Rams floundering as Rovers pulled off one of the shocks of the round.

"For some reason we weren't ourselves in the first half and we didn't have that extra yard that you need to play at this level," said Souness.

"But in the second half it was a complete turnaround and we played more of the football we've been playing recently."

"Right now we are playing with a confidence that will always give you the chance to come back.

"But, well as we did, it's now all about Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

"And in many ways I would swap this win here for a win at the weekend.

"We have four away games on the bounce now which should tell us a lot about ourselves.

"However, we should be full of confidence after this result and performance and it can only stand us in good stead."